An investigation by the Santa Clara County Equal Opportunity Division (EOD) has sustained allegations that the District Attorney’s Chief of Investigations made discriminatory remarks towards and about women, transgender people and Black people in a series of workplace comments, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
The probe into Chief Investigator Moises Reyes was launched last September following a complaint submitted by a female lieutenant in the office that alleged over a dozen instances of inappropriate workplace remarks. The accusations describe alleged conduct spanning 2021 and 2022, the source said.
The investigation recently concluded with the EOD sustaining five of the claims lodged against the DA’s top peace officer, according to the source familiar with the report’s findings. The EOD sustains claims that it determines more likely than not violated certain county policies.
Three of the sustained accusations pertained to inappropriate comments to or about women, while the other two dealt with discriminatory comments about transgender people and Black people, according to the source.
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The remainder of the nine accusations were not sustained by EOD’s investigation, the source said.
It is not clear based on the information currently available to NBC Bay Area whether Reyes, who continues to serve as chief, has appealed the EOD’s determination or whether he intends to do so. He did not respond to NBC Bay Area’s requests for comment on the allegations against him.
“No one should be subjected to these kinds of toxic and discriminatory working conditions,” the source said. “It’s not right. Everyone at the DA’s office deserves better.”
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A branch of the County Counsel’s Office, EOD is the department tasked with administering the complaint process for alleged protected-class discrimination, harassment and retaliation involving county employees.
Reyes oversees the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, which conducts follow-up investigations on cases submitted to the DA’s office for potential prosecution. Employing nearly 90 sworn law enforcement officers and additional civilian staff, the Bureau also serves as the county’s primary investigative agency on a range of crimes, including major fraud, high-tech crime and public corruption.
NBC Bay Area spoke with two additional sources within the DA’s Office, who offered their insight into Reyes’ tenure as chief. Their experiences and observations of Reyes’ conduct align with the allegations sustained by the EOD. Both sources have requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media.
“When I was hired at the District Attorney’s Office [Bureau of Investigation], I was excited to continue my career at one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area,” one of those sources said. “I never expected to experience the bullying, gender discrimination and hostility that has occurred and continues to occur within the Bureau.”
It’s now up to District Attorney Jeff Rosen to impose potential discipline in the wake of EOD’s findings.
In an emailed statement, Rosen said:
“The District Attorney’s Office is a workplace of diversity, fairness, and mutual respect among its 650 employees. I personally take very seriously allegations of behavior that runs counter to those values, and I handle them. I don’t demand perfection. I demand professionalism and pride in being a public servant for the people of Santa Clara County. We are all accountable.”
The District Attorney did not respond to specific questions about the investigation from NBC Bay Area, including what discipline, if any, Reyes might face. Reyes has the ability to appeal any imposed discipline, but County officials declined to state where the process stands because it’s an ongoing personnel matter. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has filed a public records request seeking documents from the investigation into Reyes, but so far, the County says it has no publicly releasable records responsive to the request.
At least for now, however, all three sources said it seems like business as usual within the Bureau.
“It has been two months since the findings were released by EOD and there have been no changes,” said one of the sources. “Reyes still has full power and command over the entire Bureau. No protection has been provided for those harmed by Reyes.”
Among EOD’s findings were three sustained accusations that Reyes denigrated women or working mothers, including some in his own office, according to the source with direct knowledge of the investigation.
EOD sustained an allegation that in one instance, during a June 2021 staff meeting, Reyes insinuated that a female lieutenant had only been promoted because she was a woman and stated that she brought nothing to the position at the time she was elevated, the source told NBC Bay Area.
In another case, EOD confirmed Reyes made disrespectful comments about a separate female investigator as she sought promotion to a lieutenant’s position, according to the source.
The sustained accusation had alleged that while the promotional board was discussing the candidate’s performance, Reyes reportedly remarked that she had only been given a previous assignment with the San Jose Police Department’s homicide division because she got pregnant.
In the third case, EOD investigators concluded that Reyes disparaged working mothers during a 2022 staff meeting.
The allegation against Reyes had accused him of stating, during a discussion on how working mothers can achieve balance, that working mothers shouldn’t complain about the choice they made to work since they’re the only ones capable of having children, according to the source with knowledge of the investigation.
“The insidious and inflammatory comments against women are not just being made in casual situations,” one source said. “Reyes makes his discriminative opinion known in formal settings such as promotional board exams and official command staff meetings.”
Reyes’ allegedly inappropriate remarks didn’t end with women, according to the source familiar with the EOD’s findings, with investigators also substantiating accusations that Reyes made improper comments about transgender people and Black people, as well.
In a May 2022 meeting, the source said, Reyes offered his opinion on the release of an emoji depicting a pregnant male, created to recognize that trans men have the ability to bear children. Reyes allegedly made an inappropriate comment about the ability of transgender males to become pregnant, which EOD investigators later sustained as discriminatory conduct.
According to the source, the chief’s alleged remark about Black people came during that same meeting and was aimed towards a veteran Black prosecutor in the office. Reyes allegedly said the prosecutor “always takes the side of the underprivileged Black man,” a claim which the EOD sustained was discriminatory.
It’s unknown whether the District Attorney’s Office will launch its own internal investigation into Reyes.
“The District Attorney needs to hold his department leaders accountable for their unacceptable behavior that results in workplace harassment and discrimination to subordinates,” one of the sources said.
You can reach Michael Bott at michael.bott@nbcuni.com or on Signal at 408-582-8909
